The Placenta - A Tree? For Dinner?

After just seeing the birth of my son this past week, it made me reflect on two things I read about in the previous weeks prior to the birth. They both involve the placenta. For those of you who don't know, the placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply.

The first one is new parents taking the placenta with them after birth and planting a "Tree of Life". Basically, you throw the placenta in a freezer bag, take it home and then, when you go to plant a tree you put the placenta in the dirt first and plant the tree. Okay, that is strange to me, but not weird.

The second thing I read was about people taking the placenta home, frying it up and eating it. Hold on..... Eating it? That is just plain gross! But, I guess after doing some research in many other countries that this is normal. They say the placenta is full of great nutrients and tastes great with a wine sauce.

Some interesting things to consider for new parents? Rest assured my wife's placenta was not on the menu this week.